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Monday, October 30, 2017

Thirteen Reasons Why - Jay Asher (Review)

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay AsherGenres: Young Adult FictionPublication date:December 27th 2016Publisher:RazorbillFormat: hardcover, 352 pagesHow I got it: My public libraryBuy it:Amazon | Barnes & NobleMy rating: 4/5You can’t stop the future. You can’t rewind the past.The only way to learn the secret . . . is to press play.Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker–his classmate and crush–who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah’s voice tells him that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he’ll find out why.Clay spends the night crisscrossing his town with Hannah as his guide. He becomes a firsthand witness to Hannah’s pain, and as he follows Hannah’s recorded words throughout his town, what he discovers changes his life forever.

This book follows Clay who gets tapes from Hannah, a girl
who recently committed suicide from his class.
Clay had a crush on Hannah and had several interactions with her. Hannah’s portion of the book is told through
tapes and written in her own words in the book.
Clay must listen to all thirteen
tapes and then pass them onto the next person on the tapes. Each tape is dedicated to one person and how
they affected Hannah and caused her to commit suicide.

I loved that we could get both Clay’s feelings as a friend
and Hannah’s feelings in one book since both had different views. The author took his time to develop the two
characters and bring them both to life. The views from the two characters also showed
how not every person is going to view the same situation the same. I think it is important that not every event
leading up to Hannah’s suicide was a major event in everyone’s lives, but the
author did a great job building up the story. Hannah
did a great job explaining how she felt and how it connected to the big
picture.

The author did a great job creating Hannah in my mind. The emotions that Hannah was experiencing
felt real and I felt came through in the book loud and clear.

The author did a great job taking a very challenging topic
and making people talk about it. I liked
how the author had Clay open-up to one character about what was going on and
how he was feeling. I find that a
challenging piece is finding the right person to talk to who will listen. I think this should be a book that a lot of
people should read and talk about since suicide sometimes can be prevented. Not every scenario will play out like this,
but it does make you think about your actions and words and how they affect
others. Also, it makes you think who is
reaching out to you for help.

My one complaint would be that I wish we got a little more
out of Clay. A large portion of the book
is dedicated to Hannah and the tapes, with Clay giving small tidbits here and
there, but I wanted a little more out of him.

Also, I have not watched the Netflix series yet, but the
trailer and the book seem vastly different.
I am not sure how the series does play out on Netflix and can’t wait to
watch it.

Also, I think it is key to remember when reading this is a work of fiction. That I would look at this book for calling attention to a difficult topic.

I would suggest this as a weekend read. I found it challenging to put the book down
at times, but there were also moments I needed to walk away from it for a few
moments. The book does give you a lot
to think about.

Jay Asher was born in Arcadia, California on September 30, 1975. He grew up in a family that encouraged all of his interests, from playing the guitar to his writing. He attended Cuesta College right after graduating from high school. It was here where he wrote his first two children’s books for a class called Children’s Literature Appreciation. At this point in his life, he had decided he wanted to become an elementary school teacher. He then transferred to California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo where he left his senior year in order to pursue his career as a serious writer. Throughout his life he worked in various establishments, including as a salesman in a shoe store and in libraries and bookstores. Many of his work experiences had an impact on some aspect of his writing.He has published only one book to date, Thirteen Reasons Why, which was published in October 2007. He is currently working on his second Young Adult novel, and has written several picture books and screenplays. Thirteen Reasons Why has won several awards and has received five stars from Teen Book Review. It also has received high reviews from fellow authors such as Ellen Hopkins, Chris Crutcher, and Gordon Kormon.

16 comments:

Excellent review! I'm glad you were able to read this book and enjoyed it. I also enjoyed it as well. You're right, I would love it if there were more of Clay. Having only met her for a short time to play a major role in her chain of events is shocking. I have only watched the first episode of the Netflix series. I prefer the book more. I hope you will enjoy it when you get a chance to watch it.

I really loved the Netflix show-- but maybe not AS much as the book. Things were definitely different. I think I need a reread of the book since I read it so long ago to see which one I really do like better :) I'm glad you were able to connect with this book :)

This is one of those intense novels that I always say I'm going to try, despite it not being my thing. I'm glad you thought the author did a good job with the challenging topics. It's great the story didn't disappoint. :D

I definitely want to read this one (and watch the show!) but I have been really nervous since it seems like people either really like it or REALLLY hate it. But it seems that you liked it, and I like that it shines light on a tough topic, that is such a good point! I definitely need to make this one a priority! Great review!

This was such a great review! I read this years ago, and I recently read it again, and it still gave me all kinds of feels. I haven't seen the show on Netflix yet, and I'm torn between watching it and not, so I'm not sure. This is a really difficult book and I think that the author did a wonderful job with it.